Wau Waria locals driving major road constructions

Friday, 29 August 2025, 1:58 pm

Wau Waria MP Marsh Narewec breaking ground to officially mark the start of Misisbooth highway, the 4th highway on the Wau side of the district (NBC News)

A powerful display of community-driven development has seen the local alluvial miners in the new Wau-Waria District fund and launch the construction of roads as highways, linking the villages within the Wau part of the district.

Last weekend, another groundbreaking ceremony marked the official launching of roadworks for yet another highway that’ll link the Misisbooth community and Koviak village in Ward 2 of the Wau Rural Local Level Government [LLG].

Unlike the typical infrastructure projects that rely heavily on government funding to start constructions, this road is financed by two local alluvial miners using their own hard-earned earnings.

This means the local miners are covering all associated costs that includes fuel, labour and are even using their own machinery.

Invited to officiate at the Misisbooth road’s groundbreaking ceremony, their first ever local member of Parliament, Marsh Narewec praised the local miners for their initiative and leadership.A firm believer that rebuilding community resilience is the way forward in the next 50 years, the MP was proud of this big move by the local alluvial miners.

“Thank you for taking ownership and stepping forward to build this road. We must not wait for the government, let’s move forward with what we have and let the government catch up with us,” Narewec told the villagers.

He revealed that the district has signed separate Memorandum of Understanding [MOU] with two local contractors so far, the GK Construction owned by Yoshi Mambu, a local alluvial miner who’s already constructing the first level maintenance of the Nemnem highway, and another with two alluvial miners of the Dilu and Wesley Construction, who have only started work on the Misisbooth highway.

He went on to explain that the signed MOUs are of the understanding, that the district will reimburse the local contractors, once the National Government funding for the roads are made available.

“Our people need the roads now. That’s why I agreed and signed these MOUs to allow construction to proceed without delay,” Narewec explained.

The Kaindi highway, where the misisbooth and the Nemnem highways will link up to (NBC News)

Expressing emotions on behalf of his people, the Wau Rural LLG’s Ward 2 Councilor, James Bana, expressed heartfelt gratitude towards their MP, Marsh Narewec, for prioritizing their community.

“Our people cry with a sense of guilt because we are sorry that we gave all our votes to another candidate in the 2022 National elections. Despite that, honourable Marsh still made sure we are not left behind. That’s the sign of a true leader,” Bana said.

Shedding light on his district’s development plan in order of importance, Narewec outlined that there are five pre-conditions that can be seen as the five pillars. Having an effective transport system is number one, a good electricity system should come after, effective communication should follow next, followed by a strong law and order set up with the availability of land for further developments as the fifth pillar.

“These are the five pre-conditions that must take place in Papua New Guinea, and building a robust road network is setting up the foundation for all the other essential services to follow,” he emphasised.

The Wau side of Wau Waria district currently has the Nemnem Highway, Kaindi Highway, the Wau Highway, and the newly commenced Misisbooth Highway as the fourth highway.

According to the MP, the Misisbooth road will pass through Koviak village and connect to the Kaindi Highway. Meanwhile, the Nemnem Highway will extend to Ayati village and also be linked to the Kaindi Highway, forming a strategic ring road.

With the road constructions initiated by the locals themselves, the MP said, this signifies a new era of self-reliance in the development of Wau Waria to overcome the infrastructural challenges.

The Wau Highway, first-level maintenance done, awaiting second-level maintenance upgrade (NBC News)